Wednesday, September 29, 2010

stiletto in the ghetto

This is the Millennium Spire. Ignore the incongruous way I took the picture. I like how it pops up in the middle of nowhere. Today I looked up at the tip and I got dizzy from the way the clouds were moving. It appeals to me because when we first arrived in Dublin our hostel was near the Spire and it’s the most familiar thing in the entire city to me. Walking around the neighborhood, I can see the Spire peeking over the tops of buildings. In the evenings if it’s not raining, Travis and I go up to our rooftop and watch the clouds move by. It’s amazing how fast the clouds go. Anyway, we can see the tip of the Spire from our rooftop; there must be some lights stuck to the top because it glows at night.

I guess there were a few beautification projects around Dublin that were slated to be unveiled in 2000 (including the Millennium Walking Bridge across the Liffey right in front of my building) but for one reason or another they didn’t finish quite on time. Frommer’s tells me the Spire was completed in 2003 and is the tallest structure in the city centre.

The Millenium Spire replaces Nelson’s Column which was apparently blown up in 1966 by the IRA. It’s comforting to imagine things so nearby being blown up, right? Specs:

120m (395 ft) high

made of stainless steel

3m (10 ft) wide at the base and tapers to 15cm (6 inches) at the tip

AKA Poker near Croker (Croke Park Stadium), Stiletto in the Ghetto, and Spire in the Mire

I don’t know if I’d call the neighborhood the ‘ghetto’ exactly, considering it’s in the middle of O’Connell Street shopping district, but it is towards an area we decided not to live.

Frommer’s claims that Dubliners like to give funny nicknames to all their landmarks. For example, the incredibly buxom statue of Molly Malone on Grafton Street is the Trollop with the Scallops, the Tart with the Cart, and the Dish with the Fish. I've never heard anybody say these things out loud but they are entertaining, yes?